II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1556 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to use designated funding to 

pay for construction of authorized rural water projects, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2017 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. DAINES, Mr. UDALL, Ms. HEITKAMP, Mr. 

HEINRICH, Mr. FRANKEN, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to use designated 

funding to pay for construction of authorized rural water 

projects, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Authorized Rural Water Projects Completion Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—RECLAMATION RURAL WATER CONSTRUCTION AND 

SETTLEMENT IMPLEMENTATION FUND 

Sec. 101. Establishment. 

Sec. 102. Accounts. 

Sec. 103. Deposits to Fund. 

Sec. 104. Expenditures from Fund. 

Sec. 105. Investments of amounts. 

Sec. 106. Transfers of amounts. 

Sec. 107. Termination. 

TITLE II—RURAL WATER PROJECTS 

Sec. 201. Rural water projects. 

Sec. 202. Restrictions. 

TITLE III—RECLAMATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENT 

IMPLEMENTATION 

Sec. 301. Reclamation infrastructure and settlement implementation. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Rec4 lamation Rural Water Construction and Settlement 

5 Implementation Fund established by section 101. 

6 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

7 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

8 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

9 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

10 (3) RURAL WATER PROJECT.—The term ‘‘rural 

11 water project’’ means a project that is designed to 

12 provide domestic, industrial, municipal, or residen13 tial water to a small community or group of small 

14 communities, including Indian tribes and tribal orga15 nizations. 


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1 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

3 Commissioner of Reclamation. 

4 TITLE I—RECLAMATION RURAL 

5 WATER CONSTRUCTION AND 

6 SETTLEMENT IMPLEMENTA7 TION FUND 

8 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT. 

9 There is established in the Treasury of the United 

10 States a fund, to be known as the ‘‘Reclamation Rural 

11 Water Construction and Settlement Implementation 

12 Fund’’, consisting of— 

13 (1) such amounts as are deposited in the Fund 

14 under section 103; and 

15 (2) any interest earned on investment of 

16 amounts in the Fund under section 105. 

17 SEC. 102. ACCOUNTS. 

18 Within the Fund, there are established the following 

19 accounts: 

20 (1) The Rural Water Project Account. 

21 (2) The Reclamation Infrastructure and Settle22 ment Implementation Account. 

23 SEC. 103. DEPOSITS TO FUND. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 2018 

25 through 2038, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit 


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1 in the Fund $115,000,000 of the revenues that would oth2 erwise be deposited for the fiscal year in the reclamation 

3 fund established by the first section of the Act of June 

4 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), of which— 

5 (1) $80,000,000 for each fiscal year shall be de6 posited in the Rural Water Project Account estab7 lished by section 102(1); and 

8 (2) $35,000,000 for each fiscal year shall be de9 posited in the Reclamation Infrastructure and Set10 tlement Implementation Account established by sec11 tion 102(2). 

12 (b) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts depos13 ited in the Fund under subsection (a) shall— 

14 (1) be made available in accordance with this 

15 section, without further appropriation; and 

16 (2) be in addition to amounts appropriated for 

17 rural water projects and the implementation of rec18 lamation infrastructure and settlements under any 

19 other provision of law. 

20 (c) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsections (a) 

21 and (b), no amounts may be deposited in, or made avail22 able from, the Fund under those subsections if the trans23 fer or availability of the amounts would increase the def24 icit. 


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1 SEC. 104. EXPENDITURES FROM FUND. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), for each 

3 of fiscal years 2018 through 2038, the Secretary may ex4 pend from the Fund, in accordance with this Act, not more 

5 than the sum of— 

6 (1) $115,000,000, to be allocated from the 

7 amounts in the accounts specified in section 102; 

8 and 

9 (2) the amount of interest accrued in the Fund 

10 within each account for the fiscal year in which the 

11 expenditures are made, with the interest accrued 

12 within each account used only for expenditures from 

13 that account. 

14 (b) ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may expend 

16 more than $115,000,000 for any fiscal year referred 

17 to in subsection (a) if the additional amounts are 

18 available in the Fund as a result of a failure of the 

19 Secretary to expend all of the amounts available 

20 under subsection (a) in 1 or more prior fiscal years. 

21 (2) RETENTION IN ACCOUNTS.—Any additional 

22 amounts referred to in paragraph (1) shall— 

23 (A) be retained within the account to 

24 which the amounts were designated; 

25 (B) accrue interest for the designated ac26 count in accordance with this title; and 


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1 (C) only be expended for the purposes for 

2 which expenditures from the designated ac3 counts are authorized. 

4 SEC. 105. INVESTMENTS OF AMOUNTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall invest such 

6 portion of the Fund as is not, in the judgment of the Sec7 retary, required to meet current withdrawals. 

8 (b) CREDITS TO FUND.—The interest on, and the 

9 proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any obligations 

10 held in the Fund shall be credited to, and form a part 

11 of, the Fund. 

12 SEC. 106. TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amounts required to be 

14 transferred to the Fund under this title shall be trans15 ferred at least monthly from the general fund of the 

16 Treasury to the Fund on the basis of estimates made by 

17 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

18 (b) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment shall be 

19 made in amounts subsequently transferred to the extent 

20 prior estimates are in excess of, or less than, the amounts 

21 required to be transferred. 

22 SEC. 107. TERMINATION. 

23 On September 30, 2038— 

24 (1) the Fund shall terminate; and 


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1 (2) the unexpended and unobligated balance of 

2 the Fund shall be transferred to the reclamation 

3 fund established by the first section of the Act of 

4 June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093). 

5 TITLE II—RURAL WATER 

6 PROJECTS 

7 SEC. 201. RURAL WATER PROJECTS. 

8 Subject to section 202, for each of fiscal years 2018 

9 through 2038, the Secretary may use not less than 

10 $80,000,000 of the amounts available in the Rural Water 

11 Project Account established by section 102(1) to complete 

12 construction of rural water projects— 

13 (1) authorized to be carried out by the Sec14 retary on or before the date of enactment of this 

15 Act; or 

16 (2) for which— 

17 (A) pursuant to section 106(e) of the 

18 Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 

19 2405(e)), a feasibility study has been submitted 

20 to the Secretary by February 27, 2015; and 

21 (B) an Act of Congress after the date of 

22 enactment of this Act has authorized the con23 struction of the project. 


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1 SEC. 202. RESTRICTIONS. 

2 (a) NO OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE COSTS.— 

3 The Secretary shall not use any amounts from the Fund 

4 to pay for operation and maintenance costs of a rural 

5 water project authorized under section 201. 

6 (b) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary shall not expend 

7 any amounts from the Fund to carry out this title until 

8 the date on which the Secretary develops— 

9 (1) programmatic goals to carry out this title 

10 that— 

11 (A) would enable the completion of con12 struction of the authorized rural water projects 

13 as expeditiously as practicable; and 

14 (B) reflect— 

15 (i) the goals and priorities identified 

16 in the laws authorizing the authorized 

17 rural water projects; and 

18 (ii) the goals of the Reclamation 

19 Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 (43 

20 U.S.C. 2401 et seq.); and 

21 (2) funding prioritization criteria to serve as a 

22 methodology for distributing funds under this title 

23 that take into account— 

24 (A) an evaluation of the urgent and com25 pelling need for potable water supplies in the 

26 affected rural and tribal communities; 


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1 (B) the status of the current stages of 

2 completion of the authorized rural water 

3 project; 

4 (C) the financial needs of the affected 

5 rural and tribal communities; 

6 (D) the potential economic benefits of the 

7 expenditures on job creation and general eco8 nomic development in the affected rural and 

9 tribal communities; 

10 (E) the ability of the authorized rural 

11 water project to address regional and watershed 

12 level water supply needs; 

13 (F) the ability of the authorized rural 

14 water project— 

15 (i) to minimize water and energy con16 sumption; and 

17 (ii) to encourage the development of 

18 renewable energy resources, such as wind, 

19 solar, and hydropower elements; 

20 (G) the need for the authorized rural water 

21 project to address— 

22 (i) the needs of Indian tribes and 

23 members of Indian tribes; and 

24 (ii) other community needs or inter25 ests; and 


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1 (H) such other factors as the Secretary de2 termines to be appropriate to prioritize the use 

3 of available funds. 

4 TITLE III—RECLAMATION IN5 FRASTRUCTURE AND SETTLE6 MENT IMPLEMENTATION 

7 SEC. 301. RECLAMATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND SETTLE8 MENT IMPLEMENTATION. 

9 Consistent with section 104, for each of fiscal years 

10 2018 through 2038, the Secretary shall use not less than 

11 $35,000,000, plus accrued interest, of the amounts au12 thorized to be expended from the Reclamation Infrastruc13 ture and Settlement Implementation Account established 

14 by section 102(2)— 

15 (1) to provide compensation authorized under 

16 an Act of Congress to extinguish or otherwise re17 solve all monetary claims of an Indian tribe against 

18 the United States relating to the continued and past 

19 use of the land of the Indian tribe by the United 

20 States for the generation of hydropower; or 

21 (2) to complete construction, planning, and de22 sign of projects and implement provisions authorized 

23 under 1 or more Acts of Congress that— 

24 (A) settle or otherwise resolve, in whole or 

25 in part, litigation involving the United States 


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1 and the rights of 1 or more Indian tribes to ac2 cess, use, or manage water resources; or 

3 (B) implement agreements approved by 

4 Congress pursuant to which 1 or more Indian 

5 tribes agree to some limitation on the exercise 

6 of rights or claims to access, use, or manage 

7 water resources. 

Æ 


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